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Pipeline - Kill Code (advanced Matrix book: all the stuff slated for the technomancer ebook--complex forms, streams, alternate TM builds, and more--as well as decker gear and qualities, a guide to running the Matrix, and other useful stuff for Matrix-based shadowrunning

It is dark, cold and rainy. And it smells. Well, to be fair, the 'plex has never been famous for its mild weather and its perfume. But the fact remains that being in Duisburg, in the far North end of the RRMP, this stench was unexpected, even so late at night. The weather, to be fair, was to be expected, but the smell is somewhat disturbing.

Indeed, Duisburg is one a corporate enclave, often describe as a small paradise on earth by the local - of course, that is to say, if you do have a SIN. And no one associate "paradise on earth" with burning chemicals, iron and grease smelsl. Well, at least not everybody. In any case, this part of Duisburg is certainly not the part of the enclave.

After all, the joint was called Belchflügel ("Wings of Steel", roughly translate), so maybe it's not such a surprise that the patrons were all juryriggers and gearheadss always messing with their ride around the bar. That is also probably why the bar was built on top of a now closed supermarket: the location has no charm, but certainly a large car park to mess around. And even on a thursday evening, it was filled with over tuned, fancy car and bikes. Certainly not the most usual location for a meet, but despite the peculiarity of the locals, the place looked remote and discreet enough.

It took no time for the runner to find their contact, despite the bar being packed. Of course, as always, a quick glance at the staff, led each of them to a quieter backroom, separated from the rest by a thick door and barely furnished. Actually, given the stack of boxes surrounded the small tables and the folding chairs around it, it is pretty clear that when the room is not used, it is used as a storage facility. Their contact is rather well dressed... Ork.

The man looks pretty awkward, setting on a way too small for him folding chair - even if he is not the most strongly built for his meta-type. Most Johnson often appears very calm, quiet and under control, but the ork can not mask a sort of ... edginess. Before the runners arrive, his eyes keeps switching from quick glance to his bodyguard, from commlinks and then to some ARO only visible in his AR.

He does not look like a regular corp drone, but he certainly does not fit into the place. He apparently try to match his attire, a sort of fancy leather jacket, with the place, but he still looked over dressed, even fancy, for the greasy autoshop bar he is in. As the first runner arrives, he stands to offer to shake their hands, with an open face, and a very convicing "sincere" smile:

"Guten Abend ! As you may imagine my name is Schmidt, but let's keep it casual, you can call me Johannes. I certainly appreciate coming so quickly - and punctually, to this meeting. As often in this line of business, time is for the essence. Let's wait for your partner before diving in... Oh, do you want a drinK ? Surpringsingly enought, their homebrew dark beer of the place, called "Grease Juice" is pretty palatable..."

Zilli wasn't sure what to do. This wasn't the best part of town - not by a long shot - and the bar hadn't seen a health inspector since... well actually she couldn't remember ever having seen one here. So technically it wasn't a problem that somehow this large dog had gotten into the common room, especially since it was wearing some kind of vest which displayed "Service Animal" on it's sides. Not to mention that it wore tiny armored socks over it's paws and also had goggles (or would you call those rather "doggles"?) over its eyes. The thing was, she was pretty sure that this wasn't a dog but actually a wolf. She had seen this documentation about the wilds of the northern UCAS. The mountain wolves had looked exactly like this one and they had been led by what the documenter had called a Fenris Wolf. One of those magic abominations. What if this was one of those? Zilli didn't dare to move while this "dog" just sat there, looking around. Finally the beast moved under one of the banks, laid itself flat on the ground and closed its eyes.

At the same time the luminous form of a tall and painfully thin elf manifested in the storage room. With an apologetic grin he said: "I'm sorry, my condition prevents me from a more "hands on" sort of meeting so I'll have to be contend with watching you enjoy the local drink. Besides I just had a refreshing bowl of water earlier.By the way, you can call me Rex."

Jack sat on the edge of the bed, the glass in his hand traced a figure of 8 as he swirled the last 2 fingers of Stolichnaya round and round. The face that stared back out at him from the mirror was not his own. Instead he watched as the blandly handsome Slavic man lifted the glass and swallowed what remained.

Well this trip turned out to be a bust as far as upping the bank balance was concerned The jolt of the train car temporarily disturbed the slender blonde form under the sheets on the bed behind him. Still I did manage to upset the Vory again, getting this Natasha out from under with the 'sticks she lifted was reward enough. Madame B will sort her out when she finally arrive in London.

3 days on the slow train from Moscow were actually coming to an end as Jack was brought from his reverie by the announcement that the train would soon be arriving in Cologne. Dropping the glass to the table Jack finished his dressing and dropped a quick message, wishing her luck, on the Natasha's 'link before slipping out of the door leaving her to her slumber. Stopping in the bathroom he triggered the electrochromatic function of his clothing and accessed one of his saved faces. By the time he left the bathroom as the train came to a halt no one who had interacted with him in the previous week would now give him a second glance.

Now I just have to get a paying gig again

Dropping into an autocab Jack accessed his messages and was pleased to see that Madame B had come through and there was a meet scheduled in Duisberg for the following evening.

24 hours later Jack, wearing yet another of his faces, was stood thankful for the chemical protection on his coat outside the bar. Catching his reflection, now that of a blandly handsome vat job that had been popular 30 years ago and aged to suit, he gave a wry smile and headed into the crowded bar. Taking a moment to center himself, as well as taking in the environment he had now entered, he then caught the eye of one of the bartenders and got the discreet nod in the direction of the back.

Arriving in the back it was obvious that this was not the Johnson's usual habitat, but then again neither was it Jack's.

Waiting politely, Jack let the Johnson finish talking, and managed not to show surprise when the image of the skinny elf winked into existence, before responding in kind. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance Johannes. Myself and those others who join us look forward to hearing about your predicament and finding ways to expedite a solution if terms are agreeable. You may call me Fox. Thank you for the offer of Grease Juice but I prefer to keep a clear head when working so a mineral water will suffice. San Peligrino if it's available. How many others are you expecting to join us on this pleasant evening?"

Jack took the folding chair opposite Schmidt and relaxed as he waited for Johannes to continue.

« Last Edit: (14:30:45/11-15-16) by Stoneglobe »

Logged

´Wonderful´, the Flatline said,´I never did like to do anything simple when I could do it ass-backwards.´ - William Gibson, Neuromancer

Waywalker's commlink rang through his AR while he was driving the van." A job? What kind of job? My connection is very weak here, I don't hear you..."A sudden AR image of the cops popped up on his view. He smiled, preparing himself to become the vehicle."I'm a bit busy at the moment, I've something to take care of. Just send me the place and the time and I will be there."The sound of the van speeding covered the comunication.

The bar of the meeting looked quite familiar. "I swear I've been here before, but I can't remember when... Maybe the Matrix is frying my brain. However, a job is still a job."The table and the seatings were a bit spartan, but Waywalker liked it. "It seems our Schmidt goes to the bone of things. Good."The Vandals logo appeared on his jacket."Mr Johannes, thank you for the offer, I'd have a beer." While waiting for his drink, Waywalker looked the other guests, trying to catch some information. "The lighty one is a mojo user, I don't see him in AR."

Johannes was caught of guard by the materialization of Rex, but quickly regains his composure. He greats the mage and Jack who entered the room , almost at the same time:"Rex, please to meet you ! Your reputation precedes you, but, boy, what an entrance !"

Turning to the only runner in the flesh for now, the ork cheerfully adds: "M.Fox, very pleased to meet you too. I'll order some clean and sparkling water for you from the bar, but I would be surprised if they had your brand... Oh, btw, I do admire your work ethic, but the local beer are rather mild - having one should not impair your facilities... In case your reconsider."

Before Jack or Rex could replied anything, Johannes spot a third runner arriving. "Ah, isn't it the great Waywalker in the flesh ! I also heard a lot of good thing about you. I really appreciate having you... Physically. Oh, one of the bar tender, Ruby I think, mentioned to me you came a couple of time last year. She apparently missed you - well, more exactly she missed seeing the "ride" you had back then. Apparently, it was quite a beauty".

"Well, this is a bit unconventional, but certainly interesting !" tells the ork to the mage, with a childish smile on his face.

"Let's move on to business. We are all professional here, so our time is precious. So your job would be to retrieve for us a coyote - or rather a smuggler as people tends to call them in Europe, and his cargo. The smuggler have just double timed his last client, and disappear with the shipment he was supposed to deliver, and went to the ground. We have some small leads to give you, to but you on his trail, but we also hope you'll have enough informants to help you locating him. Well, trustworthy informants that is to say. As said, the smuggler is in hiding, so careless investigation might tip him off. Of course, as one may imagine, you are most likely not the only one going after him, so be advised. So, are you interested ?"

A quick discussion follows, to haggle on the price, but quickly the ork and the runner come to an agreement. Johannes then note:

"Hum, sadly, I had an other ... talent, I wanted to add to your team, but the person has been delayed, I've just been informed. Well, time is of the essence here, so you'll have to start asap we'll see about that later. In the meantime, let me give you some more concrete information. Your target is Bernard Janssens, or "Bernee" - written Bernie. He is a smuggler who operates in this region, but also the north of France and the United Netherlands. All around the SOX in fact. Up to my knowledge, he was supposed to deliver his shipment over two days ago, but apparently, the meet went badly, and he managed to flee away, of course, with the cargo. Since then, he has clearly gone to the ground."

While describing the situation, Johannes shares with the runners some AROs, showing both some pictures of Bernie - white male human, short black hair, small eyes and always two to three days behind in shaving. Oh, also, a nasty broken nose. Commenting on this, Johannes continues: "Oh, good, he really should have his nose fixed up.... I mean, in our day and age, carrying this around ? Anyhow."

A new ARO pop ups showing the VTOL driven by Bernie. A highly modified - and weaponized, GMC Banshee.

"There is a bit more intel to get you started. We know he has acquaintance, a mid-range (pricewise) escort called Trixie... I know she clearly lacks imagination. Unrelated to this deal gone wrong, there is absolutely no love lost between him and Saeder Krupp, and there is some persistent, but not substantiated, rumors that he did some work for an organlegger band, based in Köln. If you wish to pursue this last lead, I can give you a bit more information on it, but, as said, it is quite unsubstantiated. Any questions ?"

[spoiler]@Haywire, it's a mecanic bar, and certainly a rigger haunts, so I assumed Waywalker was there a couple of times. I weaved that into the narrative, but feel free to add some anecdotal item if you want !

@All I'm attending a conference, here in Berlin, for the next two days, so I may not be able to reply so quickly, but please post your questions ! Like for the first round, I will wait for each of you to have contribute at least once.[/spoiler]

Rex politely faked interest in the AR images - he'd have to ask the others later to show them to his body as his astral form wasn't able to see anything that wasn't displayed on an old LCD monitor. Despite not really having a throat in this state, he cleared it before speaking: "A few questions: 1) What cargo did he carry? Are we talking about large crates or more about briefcases full of biotech?2) Is this Trixie also working in Cologne?3) It can't hurt to check out the organ leggers, so yes please, give us the information.4) If Bernie is united with S-K in mutual hatred, can we safely assume that they or the Sternschutz have a file on Bernie?5) Who ordered the other parties to investigate, or for that matter what is your interest in this venture? Are you more interested in getting Bernie alive or do you care more about the cargo?

Once I'm within 5 kilometers I can have a Kami search for Bernie with pretty reliable results as long as he doesn't hide behind a strong mana barrier."

Waywalker listened to the ghost of the mojoer asking some questions. "And pretty good ones. We've a smart one in the team."Taking a sip from his beer, he nodded."It was a Scorpion, my ride back in those day. I was the pilot for a combat biking team. Returning to the reason of our meeting, I agree with the questions of Rex. Also, other than the Banshee, do you know what are his vehicles of choice? Does he like water-based travel, or goes for grond trip? Could you point the exact location of the rendezvous gone south?"While waiting for the answers, Waywalker tried to remember some of the known routes from there.

Jack allowed the ghostly image to ask his questions and the later arrival to make small talk whilst taking his time digesting the images provided. Something about the Johnson was fluttering around in the back of his mind though he couldn't pin it down at this point. The mention of the organ legging band and the target also rang some slight bell in the back of his brain.

"My ghostly companion, Rex? if I understand correctly, has certainly covered the basics of what additional information that we need but I do have a few things to add.

"Firstly you referred to Bernie as a coyote before correcting yourself and using the term smuggler. Having spent some time on the other side of the pond, as it is so delightfully referred to, I have run into these coyotes a few times. Are we to take it that he specialises in the transport of metahummanity as the term usually refers to then?

"As you also pointed out his companion of, shall we say, nuyen soluble entertainment provision certainly lacks imagination. I hope you have more to go on than Trixie as we'll be forever trying to find her.

"Whilst I am not prying into who you represent, in the literal sense at least, it is safe to assume that it is this Bernie's client who is ultimately footing the bill. You obviously believe that others will also be looking for our target so some further information on this would definitely be advantageous to us. You mentioned that the meet went bad, was this because it was crashed by an unwelcome third party or due to a more personal difference of opinion between the original parties involved in the contract?"

As he probed Jack watched the Johnson for any signs of deception or uncertainty in his answers.[spoiler]

Johannes was surprised, but quickly produced a sincere (or at least sincere-looking) smile to the numerous questions of the astrally projected mage. As he was preparing his answers, Waywalker followed by Jack added their own questions and the Johnson obviously opted to wait and hear all of them before replying.

"First of all, thanks a lot for your thoroughness and keen observation. I wish most of my runners were half smart as you apparently are - it would make my job far more simple. Let me also apologize, because some of your questions echoes to missing items from my initial briefing."

After a brief pause, the ork goes on.

"So, let me start by filling those gaps - and first, with our escort "du jour". Yes, we have more information on Trixie. First here is a picture of her." Simultaneously an ARO appears displaying a somewhat fuzzy picture of young, slender woman. She has long and curvy hair, a straight noose, along with nice blue eyes. She is winking at the camera - which led to display her datajack on her left side. She also appears to have a neon-blue nanotattoo on the right side of her face. However the image is a bit too fuzzy, and with the wrong angle on it - plus the fact that the room is pretty dark, it make impossible to assert what the tattoo could actually be representing.

"As you can see the picture was taken in a local club, in the North of Essen, called Nurasol. It was last Saturday and we've heard that she might be a regular there. And known by the name of Trixie - surprisingly. I'm quite sorry to have not mention that earlier."

The Ork gives the runners a few seconds to absorbs the information before going on.

"Regarding the shipment, no sorry, I can not disclose the content of it, neither can I tell you what happened during the meet - or, for that matter, where the meet happened. I can not also confirm (or deny) that you are working for the original client of "Monsieur Bernie". I would just recommend you all to not make hasty conclusion here. As I've heard some many good runners said often: "nothing kill you more faster than a wrong assumption, short of a dragon". I also have no intel, for now at least, on the probable competition or other parties involved. I do know that the shipment was smuggled into the country and required a rather large transporter, so it is my understanding that you'll need the vehicle of a size of a van when you secure it. Alternatively, I could arrange a pick up."

Shacking his head, and the M.Johnson became again apologetic:

"Gosh, I realized now that I've forgot to mention something earlier. I do expect you to need to synchronize with me during the run, so I'll give a burner phone number on which you'll be able to join 24/24. Depending on how fast you making progress, but also ... Well, let's say "how the game afoot unfold in the meantime", we'll need to re-prioritize and strategize."

Johannes stops again to gather his thoughts.

"Let me see again what other question you had... Oh, right, this was an other very good point from mister Rex."

Turning to the ghost like figure of the mage, he carries on.

"You are right both S-K and the Sternschultz have both a file and a bounty of Monsieur Bernard. However, I've been told, it's not an active file, so it may not easy to pull it out of the archive.We do know his case is in the hand of a detective called Juergen Schulz, who is attached to a precinct of Dusseldorf."

Johannes stops again, pondering probably if he should or not reveal what his coming next.

"We also have a location - in the matrix, of a host of the Saeder Krupp where his file may be accessible (if not archived that is to say). Apparently, Monsieur Bernard had some "bad words" with a special SK Agent named Ulf, some month ago. I've been informed that the report of this event and the file maybe be living in this host. However, I have no intel on which physical location or Matrix user in Essen, this file maybe attached to. I have not mentioned this at first, because this is obviously a long shot - but maybe not for talented runners like you ?"

Again, Johannes pauses - most likely to look at some note he did, on the fly, in his AR, but start speaking again almost immediately:

"Oh, and M.Rex, regarding your offer to use a spirit - or was it a Kami ? It would be definitely an excellent option, but it is pretty clear, for what I know that Monsieur Bernard is not currently hiding in the 'plex. We expect him to be still nearby, probably somewhere around 40km tops, to the sprawl limits. He does have a lot of ties to the 'plex as the fore mentioned Trixie, and a lot of history, like the Saeder Krupp mishap I just mentioned. But also of course a lot of contacts and allies that can help me - far more than anywhere else in the ADL. And this history with the 'plex is naturally leading me to answer an other of your questions M.Rex. The one regarding the alleged rumors of organ legging."

Taking a brief pause, this time clearly for dramatic effect.

"First let me replied to Jack regarding whether or not, your target is a coyote or a smuggler. He is actually both, as far as I know. It's been moving both people and cargo across the borders - but apparently, more cargo than people in the last months. It does not seems to be a sort of choice on his side, he is probably simply taking the jobs he is getting offered. Back to the organ legging, the reason I've barely mentioned this lead is, as you can imagine, time is of the essence in this run, and I'm not convinced this will bare fruit. It's not substantiated may therefore yield no result and end up being a red herring. That being said, I do defer to your judgment and experience in this matter. Here is the intel I got."

A series of ARO is being spawned by his commlink, as the Ork comment:

"As far as this rumors goes, he seems that Bernie's ride has been spot, two weeks ago, delivering or picking up some cargo from a tower in Dusseldorf. The cargo appears to belong to a small Japan corp that is all but a proxy of Mitsuhama Computer Technologies. No surprise as MCT controls most of this area anyway."

"However the end customer of the small corp appears to be a very legit business, a small tourist shop, selling "Japan trinkets". Well, they are described as "authentic, hand craft Japanese art piece", but I guess you know what they are exactly. Apparently the regular delivery services - arriving by drone from a nearby MCT facility had a malfunction and, as a legal freelancer - probably Bernie has a Fake SIN as a "VTOL for hire" freelancer, his VTOL was brought in."

"Actually, it's not clear if the VTOL was the one from Bernie or just one looking just like it. And the rumor that he actually picked up some "organ legging cargo" during this stop is just that for now. With the file I sent you, you now have all the related info, name of the shop owner, contract, report of malfunction from the delivery services and so on. Feel free to explore this further, but do keep in mind it is race more than anything else."

As the Johnson is clearly reaching the end of the first round of questions the runner, Jack (or Fox) is still trying to read him. And he is honestly quite puzzled. Was this guy acting clumsy or forgetfully on purpose ? Like this Columbo character, that his grand parents were always so fond of ? Or was he as careless, and giddy ? - as he seems to appear. At this point, the runner fells like it could be one way or the other. Which leaves him both puzzled and a bit frustrated to be honest...

On his side, Waywalker is trying to figure out in his head which route could the Belgian have taken. But with no idea of the provenance of the shipment, but also the nature of the cargo, it is a daunting task. He can see dozens of routes that could make sense and even more good sites for a delivery or a discreet meet.

"well, I think I've covered most of your questions, didn't I ? Let me know if I forgot anything or if you have new ones for me. We can certainly afford an other round of questions, but then, I would recommend you start your investigations anyway... As already pointed, you can always reach me later on with the number I just gave you and, as already stressed out, time is of the essence here."

Satisfied, the Ork grabs his bottle, finishes his beer in one, long sip, and then looks at the runner... Still with a friendly smile on his face.

Rex replied: "So - if I understand you correctly - you want the cargo, preferably unopened, and the coyote dead or alive delivered to you.You realize that we have no way of actually verifying if we come across the stuff you want, especially since Bernie seems to be a pretty prolific smuggler with a broad portfolio of goods. We need at the very least a description of the crates, preferably also the bar-codes or whatever other identifiers there might be.

And don't worry: Our investigation will of course concentrate on the most promising leads first. But there is always the possibility that an otherwise unrelated piece of information could be the deciding element to track the man down.

Speaking of which: You wouldn't happen to have a personal item of Bernie or know where we could find such a thing? Getting his scent so to speak would be quite helpful."

Despite the criticism of M.Rex, especially on the look of information on the shipment, Johannes keeps his cool, smiles and replies to the mage:

"I do understand your frustration regarding the lack of information regarding the shipment itself. However, last time I look up the definition of a Shadowrun in the matrix, I don't think the exact definition was "clear operation, with detailed information on all needed information". If this did not required you to a little resourceful, obviously this would not be neither offer nor handled by a group of runner. Also, it is expected that you'll know very easily when you will have found the shipment. We don't expect this to be in a "red crate" hidden inside a warehouse full of "red crate". And, of course, I did gave you a way to communicate directly with me, if you need more information later on. At this stage, you have all the information you need to start looking for your target."

The soft, but obviously sarcastic rebuttal creates a silences for a couple of seconds, that the M.Johnson let last on purpose, while looking straight at Rex, not aggressively, but with a firm expression on his face.

"That being said, you involuntarily raised an excellent point. You are inferring that we want Monsieur Bernard, dead or alive. We don't and we honestly don't care what you do with him. Let him live, killing him - or even sell him to the competition. We don't give a damn, just don't deliver him to us. And to reply to your last question, no sorry, we do not have any personal belonging to Monsieur Bernie. He clearly was careful about that. But, hopefully your investigation might lead you to such an item."

It's been a long time since I wasn't able to get a proper read on someone, maybe I'm actually getting too old for this sort of thing.

The the Johnson responded quite sarcastically finally allowing his true personality to begin to show. So it was all just an act and this guy's as much of an arsehole as the next.

"I applaud your fine acting skills there Mr Johnson though I believe you will find that most people respond better to reasoned arguments when trying to put your point across. Personally I care not for such showboating, especially when the question asked was more than reasonable given the nature of the target and your desire to obtain a specific item from them.

"I also find your lack of, for want of a better word, trust in our abilities to be disconcerting at best. Half truths and obfuscations are part of the lives we all lead but expecting to micromanage your assets will generally leave you only getting those who are not truly assets and do require to be micromanaged.

"I for one am not prepared to attempt to retrieve a shipment I know nothing about on the basis that we can call you when we're in place and you'll give us more info at that point. Situations such as these often end up time critical and/or fluid which means if I don't know what I'm retrieving, at least in the broadest sense, I won't attempt the retrieval. It might well be that it is indeed obvious what the package you want retrieved is when we find it but, as my esteemed colleague has pointed out we could end up looking for a red crate in a warehouse full of red crates as you so in-eloquently put it.

"If your wish is to try and micromanage and control every part of this operation then rather than waste anymore of your time I'll take the drink as payment for my time tonight and wish you luck in your future endeavours. Should my colleagues still wish to continue in this acquisition and accept being micromanaged I also wish them luck.

"If on the other hand you would care to share the relevant information, that you so obviously have and wish to keep to yourself until we call asking for assistance, so that we can plan and accomplish the job you wish doing I'll be happy to stay on board and get you what you're looking for."

[spoiler]

I'm using my negotiation (diplomacy) here to try to get the Johnson to understand the difference between recruiting professionals who can actually do the job and mooks who need to be managed here and am pre-edging it. If you don't feel that it's appropriate then please feel free to ignore it.

Waywalker was silent while his teammates argued with Mr Johnson. He agreed with the oldest one. "Better to be crystal clear about the job. At least on our side."He took a moment to focus on the details."Let's make this clear to us: you want us to retrieve this cargo, without knowing not even one thing about it; the cargo is hold by someone who we have some clues about.Ok, as mister Jack stated, we are professionals and we can do this. But may we know if the cargo is alive and moving on its own or presumed to be? If this is the case, the cargo is willing to be extracted?"

Rex shrugged at the harsh reply of the Johnson: "Piss poor management style on your part. You'll get a crate from us. Just don't complain if it's the wrong one."He then listened to the more elaborate explanations from his fellow runners, nodding his translucent head.

Johannes sight loudly, in reaction of the runners complains and demands, and his facial expression changes drastically, from a kind, apologetic one to a clearly angry, with a not conceal hint of disdain and disappointment. Jack realizes immediately that his negotiation skills may have save the job, because short of that, it seems like the M.Johnson was ready to call it quits, but he is clearly still pondering on this decision looking directly into Jack's eyes for a second or two.

"OK, let's cut the crap. I'm not going to dignify Mister Rex comment on "don't complain if we get you the wrong crate". Well, short to say that I hope your next collective negotiation move is not going to be "I hold my breath until you tell us what the shipment is". Clearly, my act, as you called it, is not cutting with you, I can see that, but let's see if we can try to come back to a professional attitude none the less."

"First of all, I think you are all making a lot of assumption here. One clearly is that I actually know what the shipment is. I don't. Our employer has not shared this information with me. You are mentioning a crate, but for what I know, it could be a cage containing a critter, an extracted R&D researcher, or a pair of diabolical genetically engineer 12Th years old twin ! Or it might be a piece of tech. Of course, like you - and already pointed this out to our employer, this is not the way anyone in our business likes to work, but it nonetheless the way of the shadows."

As Johannes pauses briefly, Jack realizes that while he was trying to convey that the ork should be talking to them as professional, all the runner did up until this point is show the opposite. Before Fox can dwell more into this, the M.Johnson resume:

"Like you are most likely going to do, I'm also having my contacts and information network trying to assert what this shipment may be. However, I can not simply wait to gather all this information to brief you all, because most likely by then, our prize will have been taken. So I would like you to start focusing not on the nature of the shipment we may never be able to locate and secure, but on getting a concrete lead to find Bernie. By then, hopefully, I will either have more information, or I will have something to offer our employer to get more information. And obviously you own investigation might also yield this information too."

"Talking about more about assuming too much. Earlier you were also inferring, unequivocally, that our employer is the original recipient of the shipment. It is most likely not, which means that we are also starting late in this race, with less intel, so we need start immediately if we want to have any chance to score the deal for our employer. Also, I'm not trying to micromanage you, Fox, if I gave a commlink to be able to join me whenever you need, it's because I want to work with you. But if you want, I can micro manage and play obfuscation by telling you "go to explore this lead and locate Monsieur Bernie and then report back to me". I clearly don't. I respect you all as being smart runner, and I know that by giving all the context and information that I have, ie that the goal is not Bernie but the mysterious shipment, I increase our chance of both surviving and winning this game. Also, I don't think this is too much to ask of good shadowrunner to be flexible - if I wanted to point in a direction and say "grab, fetch or kill", I would hire a gang, not professionals."

"Now, can you all do me the favor to go "learn things" on Bernie's location or even hideout ? And we contact each other later on, depending on what we learn. Or is this again "poor piss management" of my part ?"

The ork marks a pause, to let his quip stings a bit, but resume speaking quickly as he does not want to have the question going awry again:

"As said earlier, if we want more information on this operation, I also need to get going, and see if can learn more on this all situation... So unless you have other relevant questions to the matter at hands ..."

Johannes gives a last look to the team, standing up, clearly ready to leave and let them start their work, and just awaiting the runners to dismiss him.

[spoiler]Guys, I'm not trying to railroad you into accepting the run, but unless you have questions regarding M.Bernie and the leads, I would suggest we move forward. As said, you can always call him later on if you have questions - and of course if something comes up like "oh, we should have definitely asked that during the brief", we can always do a "flashback" and say that you did.

Of course, if you all really don't like this run and how this all thing is starting, your characters can simply decline and leaves the Johnson right there - and we'll move to something else !

@Stoneglobe as you got 10 successes on your negotiation skill on "Negotiation to get Mr J to understand the difference between recruiting pros and mooks (pre-edged): ", whatever you guys feels about it, you clearly gave him a very bad first impression. You made a lot of assumptions, you focused too much on the "end game" (the shipment) and not on the task at hands (finding a lead to Bernie's position) - and he did not like that (not saying your points were not valid, just telling you what you can read of him). He is honestly disappointed and now worried about you guys not being able to do the job.

Also, because we abstract money away by paying by post, the fact is that this is a very high-level, highly paid run. If you pull it through, there is a LOT of money to make for both you guys and him. So to make this more apparent, and have Stoneglobe amazing roll pays off even more, you will all get an extra 20 000 nuyens each (on top of the accumulated money) at the end of the run.

Last point, out of game, just to be sure your perception of Johannes's briefing is not alter by my game style: this briefing is pretty standard to my game style. You don't have all the elements, just a sketchy pictures, and this picture will (hopefully) gets clearer as you move forward. So you may not like it, but "in my world", it's not a suspicious / unprofessional / unheard of way of starting point for a run.[/spoiler]